Six Ways Mobile Data Collection Improves Tank Farm Management

Within the fuel industry, tank farms are a crucial method of storing crude oil, solvents or other liquid substances. These tank farms consist of large tanks that store thousands of gallons of potentially hazardous liquids and require a well-developed management system to prevent potential problems such as environmental damage, safety hazards and financial loss.

In recent decades, wireless technologies such as Wi-Fi network adapters, wireless routers, antennas and video cameras have become a common method of tank farm management. Tank storage facility owners adopted these technologies since they allowed tank farms to be monitored and managed with greater ease and significant cost savings. For example, the cost of a wireless solution at a tank farm is 50% of the cost of a wired installation, according to New Jersey industrial automation distributor Industrial Controls’ “Industrial Wireless Cost Savings: A Tank Farm Example”.

For tank farms, airports and other storage facilities using bulk fuel storage tanks, a mobile technology system such as COMMANDmobile® is easy to integrate into a wireless management system. Other benefits include:

1) Faster communication with mobile employees. COMMANDmobile permits employees within the tank farm to easily maintain contact with managers in a centralized control room through the use of smartphones or tablet computers. Employees may communicate with one another or with managers using voice or e-mail.

2) Reliable data storage and transfer. COMMANDmobile’s data collection capability is ideal for recording and sending large amounts of tank farm data such as safety inspections, leakage sites, and the performance of tank valves, pumps, gauges, monitors and flowmeters.

5) Reduced data entry errors. COMMANDmobile eliminates the need to use paper forms, reducing the possibility of accidental errors made during an employee’s transfer of data from paper forms onto computers.

6) Improved cost savings. COMMANDmobile reduces the necessity of purchasing new devices to accommodate the technical specifications of COMMANDmobile, and it also lessens the necessity of purchasing paper data entry forms.

DeAnna Davidson is a proven technologist and business leader who is passionate about the power of mobile computing to revolutionize a business or industry, and dedicated to helping organizations use mobile, wireless, and web technologies to their advantage.